Floor and roof construction.



J. G. ZWIGKER.

FLOOR AND ROOF CONSTRUCTION.

. ,1907. 929,364. I Patented July 27,1909.

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FLOOR AND ROOF GONSTEUC'EIGN.

Specification of Letters Patent;

Patented; July 27, race;

Application filed November 13, 1907. Serial No. 01,922. e

To all whom z't may concern."v

Be it known that l, JULms Go'rLou ZWICKER, a citizen of the United States, re-

siding at the City of Mexico, State of Mexico,

and Republic of Mexico, have invented certain new. and useful Improvements in Floor and Roof Construction, of which the following is aspecification.

My'invention relates to floor and roof constructions and particularly to a floor-or roofcomposed of sections or units, and means for 7 struction and arrangement of parts hereafter described and partlcularly set forth inthe claims ap ended.

"In the, rawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a floor, roof or reservoir bottom. Fig. 2 is a section on line ma:, Fig. 1.

. isa section on line z2, Fig. 1.

Like characters throughout the several views indicate like arts.

A designates a block or unit of stone, brick, tile or composition, either solid or hollow,'and of any desired size or shape in plan, which shall admit of the contiguous sides of adjacent blocks being parallel to each other along the whole longitudinal extent of I have shown the blocks as rectangular in plan and prefer to make them of this shape.

Each edge-of each block is rabbeted so as to form an outwardly projecting horizontal flange a rojecting out beyond the upper portion 0 the tile or block on all sides and ilelctmg flange of the next adjacent look.

me while the lower" ortionsof each of the 7 units contact with see 1 other when the units formed by Fig. 7

adapted to contact with the outwardl pro-' above the flange a are recessed as at a, said recess extending along the entire edge'of each side. This recess is horizontal and parallel with the upper face of the block and the upper wall of the recess is at right angles with the edge ofthe-block, the lower wall of the recess being slightly inclined or curved. Above the recess a the edge of the unit or block is longitudinally grooved as at a. This groove is very slight and is merely for the purpose of more thoroughly engagingithe concrete filling O.

B designates the filling of sulfur, pitch, asphalt or similar waterproof substance which it protected will keep'a permanent state of plasticity. This is poured in a heatedcondition into the channel between the blocks and fills the lower'portion of the channel and the recess. a of each block. Preferably the plastic' material 3 fills the channel toa point 's'li htly above the recess a. When this lower fTlling B has sufiiciently hardened the upper portion of the recess the adjacent rabbeted faces is filled with a filling G of cement or concrete or other relatively hard and impermeable material, this being held firmly in place by the locking groove a". p

The object of this construction is as follows: It is well known that asphalt, pitch or similar substances with which scams or joints lII- CODSi/IUCtlOHS of this kind are filled, more quickly deteriorates when exposed to the elements and to change of temperature and thus cease to fulfil their functions. It

is necessary then that material of the character of pitch, tar, asphalt or other ingredients-0f a plastic character peculiarly sensitive to the action ofthe elements and particularly to the action of heat and cold should be protected from exposure to the air or to the elements or in the case of reservoirs, etc,

exposure tof the action of water, and therefore I Iprovidethe covering C which is ot a re atively hard character, as for instance, cement or concrete. Cement or concrete is. not as good material with which-to waterproof the joints of a fioonroofs, or reservoir construction as is itch. or tar, etc. but it is much morecapah e of withstanding variations in tern erature and exposure to the elements. Hihnce. I have devised this mode of combining both of these filling agents so that the lower filling will be protected from.

deterioration and will therefore maintain its waterproofing qualities for a long period.

An important feature of my invention resides in the peculiar form given to the adj acent edges of the units or blocks and particularly to the peculiar form of the recess a which is horizontal or parallel with ,the plane of the floor or wall and has aflat upper face at right angles with the edge of the block, tile or unit and a lower face having the same general character. This permits expansion or contraction of the units'while the joint is' also fully protected. The upper side of the recess a will slide on the filling B while at the same time a pressure 'will' be exerted downward uponthe filling causing it to retain its waterproof qualities. It will be also noted that the lower corner of the recess a is rounded. In the slight expansion of the tiles, blocks or other units, these rounded corners act to wedge the material up against the upper face of the recessa and to press it .i there and fill the entire s ace between the in Fig. 2.

cover the joint; and also wit tiles. This expansion of t 1e blocks, tiles or other units is extremely slight and almost infinitesimal but it must be taken into ac' count and any construction which does not take it into account cannot be entirely waterproof. It will be seen that the tarry or pitchy material used to form the lower filling B is in a condition of much greater softness and plasticity than the material C and that being protected from the air, sun or water as it is it will to a large extent retain its plasticity and its capability of filling the space betweenthe units and keeping the joint tightly 1packed.

In Fig. 2 I ave shown the joint heretofore described as modified by use with a curbing or edge blocks or units. The inside face of each curb unit D is made as heretofore described with regard to the central sectionsor units;v that is with a rabbeted edge, a projaecting portion a, a recess a and a groove 0/,

ut at the end of each of'these'edge or curb units I provide a recess (1 extending down ward from the top to a level with the recess a" and then outward to connect with said recess. This construction is plainly shown tar, pitch,'sulfur, asphalt, or other plastic or semi-plastic material B u to the point (1 or thereabout and above this point the recess is filled in with concrete or cement as before described, the filling B naturally attaching to and becoming an integral part of the fillingrO.

he result of the construction heretofore described is that every joint is fully protected by a permanent filling of plastic material not liable to get out of place, ada ted to always a protective corlrerin or a shield of relatively hard mater1a for vertical This recess (1 is then'filled with T us there are no cracks or joints through which water can percolate and experience has shown that roofs constructed in this fashion will last and retain their waterproof qualities much longer than roofs of the ordinary construction.

It is to be understood that while I' have named sulfur, pitch, tar and asphalt as the materials to be used for the inner filling, and cement and concrete as the materialsto' be used for the outer filling, I do not wish to be limited to these materials as it is evident that other materials of like qualities or attributes might be used. Neither do I wish to be limited to the use of my construction in floors and roofs as it is plain that it might be used for a variety of masonry constructidns and l constructions as well ashorizonta In using the term relatively soft material throughout the claims, I do not wish to be limited to material which will remain entirely soft and plastic but refer particularly to material'which would be easilydeteriorated and'damaged by contact with water or would be injured by exposure to the sun, the

.essence of my inventionlying in the rotection of such relatively easily damage filling by an-outer fillingof relativelyhard and undamageable material, the special construction of the contiguous edges of the blocks or sections peculiarly adapting them for use with this filling, but I do not wish to be limited to the use of such blocks or sections.

'Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a floor or roof construction, a series of conti nous-blocks or sections, the adjacent edges 0 said blocks on all four sides being rabbeted sothat a channel will be formed between the blocks, said channel bein closed at the bottom; all four ed es of the look at the lower portion of the ra bet having an inwardly extending continuous recess, the upper wall of said recess being horizontal and at right angles to'the edge of the block, the wall of said rabbet above-said recess being formed 'with a longitudinal locking groove; a. relatively soft permanently plastic material filling the bottom of said channel and said recess, the up er portion of said channel and said roove eing filled with a permanently hard but originallyvplastic material protecting the said inner filling.

2. In a roof or floor construction, a series of main blocks contiguous on their under surface; and a series of curbing blocks having edges contiguous with the edges of the main blocks, the contiguous edges of the said main and curbing blocks being rabbeted to form on. each block an outwardly projectin flange the edge of each block being provided just' above said outwardly extending flange with a longitudinal recess; a relatively soft" ermanently plastic waterproofing material ling the bottom of said recess and the said ing the said inner filling, the contiguous ends blocks and contacting with and forming part r of the inner filling of the edge recesses before 5 referred to;-- and an outer filling of permanently hard but originally plastic material 1 filling the upper ortion of said end recesses 15 of said 'curbing b ocks'.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of recess in each block, the upper portion of said recess being filled with a permanently hard but originally plastic material protectof said curbing blocks being eachprovided with a Vertical recess extending downwardly and then inwardly and joining the longitu- I two subscribing witnesses, this twenty-first dinal recess formed on the edge of the'said I day-of Qct0ber-1997. p v

curbing block; relatively soft material filling JULIUS GOTLOB ZWICKER.

said recesses at the ends of the said curbing Witnesses:

CHARLES GRANT KOFEROTH, HERBERT M. OOOLEY. 

